<p dir="ltr">X86 or x86-64 is PC. Therefore Surface Pro is a PC. Android Tablet or iPad? Not PC. </p>
<p dir="ltr">PC must be IBM compatible.</p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Nov 6, 2013 7:11 PM, "Chad Smith" <<a href="mailto:chad78@gmail.com">chad78@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">There is no monthly fee for OnLive.<div><br></div><div>There is an *option* to pay something like $10 a month to get hundreds of games, some older AAA titles, and a LOT of indie games.<br><br>But the AAA titles that I bought years ago are still playable - by me - today, for no additional cost.<br>

<br>===</div><div><br></div><div>We are getting bogged down on OnLive, though. It was merely a proof of concept. The idea of Tablet-as-Thin-Client is basically what I was pointing out. <br><br>You don't have to have broadband, either. The Nvidia Shield, for example, can stream from a local Windows PC. I have apps on my tablet and my iPod Touch that can let me stream from my MacBook - over local WiFi (or over the internet if I turn that on). There are free VNC clients for both iOS and Android. I understand that means you have to have a "PC" to stream from, but I'm just saying you don't need the cloud. You need *either* the cloud, or a local PC - but not both.<br>

<br>Yes, Desktops and Servers will *always* be more powerful than tablets. But that gap is closing, just like it did between the Desktop and the Laptop.<br><br>And it doesn't have to close for Tablets to be viable for main-use systems. For the vast majority of people, the tablet is almost there, if it is not already.<br>

<br>And with genre-bending products like the Surface Pro, and other Hybrid laptop/tablets... it's getting harder to say what is a PC and what isn't.<br><br><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all">

<div dir="ltr">I did try Onlive, I did like it. Its a neat service, and I could see how it appeals to people. But its basically charging you monthly for a game you can just purchase and play whenever you want on an actual device be it console or PC or etc, but yes you cannot play them on your iPad or Android Tablet.<br>

<br>But its just milking people for money for a small service, sure, maybe a service you find appealing, but you are probably going to pay a lot more for that game than you would have if you just bought the game.</div><div class="gmail_extra">

<div>
<div>OnLive was actually pretty cool when it first started up. I had an account back then. </div><div> </div><div>You paid a monthly subscription fee and had access to any and all games that were available on their service. You could play any game, anytime, for as long as you liked, but you never actually owned the game. Sort of a Netflix-type thing. Then they dropped the subscription fee and you paid per-game instead. However, everything happens server-side and it streams the video to you. The upside is that you get high-end graphics even with a low-end video card, as long as your internet connection can handle it. The downside is, you never actually own any physical files.</div>

<br>The only problem with your argument with 'Hooray for the cloud' is the fact that lets say Onlive shuts-down? What happens to all your purchases? You lose them.<br>
<br>Whereas at least with Steam, my games are retained locally on my hard drive, I can play them offline without issue (and its a HUGE issue for someone that deploys overseas like me). I'm sorry, the whole cloud argument when it comes to games and game ownership pisses me off, because its just a repeat of EA and their shitty online DRM system, which basically holds your game hostage to an internet connect.<br>

<br>The whole reason the PC Gaming community was so PISSED at EA, pissed enough to give them the Golden Poo award twice, was the fact that Origin basically screwed you if you didn't have a dedicated nearby broadband connection.<br>

<br>Praise the cloud all you want, but all you are saying is: "I'm okay with not actually owning the things I purchase, and have the right to lose my access to them whenever the company loses the financial interest in offering the service to me."<br>

<br>CUDA is GPU based processing, I use it both at home and in school for Physics calculations, CAD simulations, and otherwise. Trust me, the CAD software you get on Android or iOS are a joke compared to actual full CAD systems that allow me to conduct simulation of thermal, mechanical, and electrical stressors and others calculations that your tablet is just not going to be able to handle very well. <br>

<br>The other thing is: You are basically screwing the more indie developers, Steam encourages much more wider development than Apple allows or even Android on occasion.</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">

<div dir="ltr">Here's the point, though, on my tablet, I can play AAA console quality video game titles, like the Arkham series, Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell, Metro, Homefront, LA Noire, Darksiders, etc. -- Not mobile versions, but the PC version - through OnLive. Steam, Sony, EA, whoever - could offer something like that if they wanted to.<br>

<br>CAD software exists for iOS and Android.<br><br>I have no idea what CUDA is - and I'm at least semi-Geeky - so I doubt the majority of PC users care about it.<br><br>I can use Microsoft Office on my tablet - not just office-like apps - but full-fledged Microsoft Office, through CloudOn, and OnLive.<br>

<br>These games, these apps, etc. - they exist on a server somewhere, not on a PC, and I can use them through my tablet. Not in theory - but I can do that right now, today.<br><br>Once stuff like that catches on... There won't be anything to keep the PC alive for the mainstream consumer.<br>

<br>I can plug in my tablet to my HDTV, and use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, or game controller remote, and have a "traditional" user experience.</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><font size="4"><i><span style="font-family:garamond,serif">-</span><font style="font-family:garamond,serif"> Chad W. Smith</font></i></font><div>

<div dir="ltr">Would if I could, but I can't so I shant... :p<div><br></div><div>Ya, anywho... I think I shall go back to lerking in my corner....</div><div><br></div><div>-Michael</div></div><div class="gmail_extra">

<div dir="ltr">I have family members that got tablets in the last year or so and almost never touch their laptops anymore. Between their tablet and their smartphone, they have no need for the PC.<br><div><br></div><div>

For people who are only into casual use of their computers - media consumption, casual games, social networking, etc. - the PC is already dead.<br>

</div><div><br>The reason tablets and smartphones are able to be so useful is because of the cloud. For a lot of the apps - the bulk of the work is done somewhere else - the media is stored online and streamed to the device (Pandora, YouTube, Netflix) for example.<br>

<br>I think the next big thing for mobile devices will be more a VNC type model - something like OnLive ( <a title="http://onlive.com/" href="http://onlive.com" target="_blank">onlive.com</a> ) or CloudOn ( <a title="http://cloudon.com/" href="http://cloudon.com" target="_blank">cloudon.com</a> )... Yes, OnLive failed at first, and may not ever really recover - but that wasn't because the model was bad, it was because of mismanagement.<br>

<br>But the idea of having your mobile device basically serve as a thin client to a much more powerful computer - I think that's going to be one of the things that makes the traditional PC obsolete. If I can carry a $50 device in my pocket, and pay... idk... $50 a year? ... to have access to a portion of a supercomputer... and the interface works with my hardware.... Why wouldn't I do that?<br>

</div><div><br></div><div>Yes, there are security issues - but for the vast majority of users... If the broadband is there, why not use it?</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><font size="4"><i><span style="font-family:garamond,serif">-</span><font style="font-family:garamond,serif"> Chad W. Smith</font></i></font><div>